Keeper of the Wolves by Cheree Alsop

Koya said with a pleased smile. “How long has it
been?”
    Joven chuckled. “A long time since we lost
ourselves in the forest,” he said, his voice taking on a wistful
tone. “I wouldn’t mind doing the same now.”
    “ Me neither,” Koya agreed.
She stepped past and waited for me to follow.
    I crossed the threshold of the gate and
paused outside the wall. Seeing the world unfettered by walls,
bars, or chains made it look fresh and clean. Moonlight skipped
upon outstretched leaves that rustled quietly with the laughter of
a beckoning breeze. The grasses that rushed to meet the Vielkeep
Castle wall waved back and forth, a green and tawny meadow kept
free of trees for a clear view of intruders. The trees stood
further back, and I was surprised to see how old they were. The
forest was much more ancient than the castle or the wall. I
wondered how much work it had taken to keep it at bay for so
long.
    “ Are they out
there?”
    It took me a moment to realize Joven and
Koya were waiting for me. A thrill ran up my spine when I
remembered what we had come here to do. I cupped my hands around my
mouth and gave a low, throaty howl. It wasn’t loud, but the sound
reverberated through the forest. I waited a moment with no response
and fought off a wave of sorrow. Maybe my pack had waited as long
as they could. Maybe they went home and left me to my fate.
    Koya set a hand on my arm. “Try it again,”
she said quietly.
    I swallowed against the knot of frustration
and lifted my hands once more. As soon as the notes left my lips,
eight different howls responded with tones of anxiety, happiness,
and expectation. Koya gasped at my side and I covered her hand with
my own. I listened to paws pad through the undergrowth until eyes
stared out at us shining golden in the light of the moon.
    “ Koya, get behind me,” Joven
said in a quiet voice edged with steel.
    She hesitated, but her fingers shook
slightly. I moved my hand from hers and she slipped behind her
brother. I left them both and walked slowly through the long grass.
I wore human clothes and smelled of confinement behind walls and
among people. I had endured suffering and torment far beyond what I
would have thought myself capable. I had survived despite the odds
and hatreds of those who held me captive. I was far different than
the wolf that had been captured and taken away from them long ago.
I hoped I wasn’t too different.
    A black wolf with gray eyes stepped past the
row of trees. He held his head high as he tested the air. A breeze
blew faintly behind him, carrying to me his scent of pine and
forest loam, fallen leaves and plentiful food. His coat was thick
and eyes clear. He took another step forward followed by his mate,
a lithe, gray creature with light blue eyes different from any wolf
I had ever seen. She waved her tail slowly from side to side and
her paws pranced with her eagerness to run forward, but she would
wait for her mate to decide.
    The black alpha stopped a few feet away and
studied me. I met his eyes, then casually let mine drift to the
side to acknowledge his superiority. In the human language that now
ran through my mind, the tones and notes that made up his name
translated to Shadow Runner. He and his mate, Silver Leaf, had
raised me for as long as I could remember. I owed them my life and
my respect. I loved them the same way I imagined human children
felt for their parents after being apart and realizing how much
their parents did for them.
    I crouched so that Shadow Runner understood
I still accepted his dominance. He had chosen to follow me with his
pack for a full year, showing a devotion I had yet to see in
humans. He and the pack had howled songs of courage and bravery
each night, pleading for me to survive. He had kept me alive, and
the thought that he might turn away, that I might have changed so
much I no longer belonged to the pack, brought tears to my
eyes.
    Shadow Runner’s head tilted to the side as
he studied my face. He took two